A Study in Super Heroes: Part Three -- Telling the Story

In many ways, prior to 2008, there were only four super heroes: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Spider-Man. At least, that was it as far as the world as a whole was concerned.

Let's just say that Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman were already iconic characters around the world by the time Marvel Comics came into existence in the 60s, and Spider-Man, due to his cartoon and snappy theme song

was the only Marvel super hero to break into universal awareness the way that DC's trinity had.

However, the world of comics shifted in 1961 with the publication of Marvel's first super hero comic, The Fantastic Four. Marvel changed comic books from a medium that was character driven to one that was story driven, and not just the individual story but the world story. Marvel quickly became the #1 comic book company and, really, has remained there for the last 50 years.

That didn't mean that people, the mass of people, knew who Marvel's heroes were, though, because the 50s reduced comic books from something mainstream into a tiny niche group reserved for kids and socially awkward teenage boys. Until 2000, that is, when the X-Men movie came out. That was the turning point for comics becoming mainstream again, except as movies. (Because, honestly, comic books themselves are too expensive for people to be able to follow more than a few at a time.)

The success of X-Men and, in 2002, Spider-Man proved that super heroes other than Batman and Superman could support movie franchises. However, Marvel had licensed both of those properties to other studios, studios who proved that they didn't actually care about the stories involved, only in making money off of popular characters. Why worry about a good story when everyone will come see the movie anyway, right? (I'm especially looking at you, Fox, for making X-Men Origins: Wolverine.)

Marvel decided they could do better, wanted to do better, but they had already licensed out the only two properties they had (X-Men and Spider-Man) with any real name recognition. They would have to use characters whom people really didn't have an awareness of, and that would mean the stories would have to be strong.

And that's what they did. They told good stories.

I mean, not only did Marvel spend five years and five movies to work up to The Avengers, but Captain America: Civil War is a perfect example of how important story is to Marvel. Not only did they weave elements of two different story lines into a solid climax story, they did it with 12 super heroes in it, and they did it pretty flawlessly and with characters that most people had never heard of before Iron Man came out in 2008. The achievement is rather astounding. Sure, you need to have seen the other movies for this one to work, but that's what story-telling is.

On the other hand, DC, via Warner Brothers (who owns them), continues to struggle with building any kind of coherent story in their movie universe, if you can even call it that at this point. They continue to rely on the drawing power of their characters and what they think people already know about them rather than craft any kind of story that can hold water longer than one of those paper cups you made as a kid from folding up a piece of notebook paper. You can look at their most recent release, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, to see that. They don't even bother to introduce Wonder Woman or tell you anything about her other than that she was alive during World War I. They are all about the money and, if people will go see the movie just for the characters, why bother to add a story.

Not that that hasn't worked for them. To some extent. Batman/Superman did bring in $325 million domestically ($865m worldwide), but it took it more than a month to do that, and it was projected to break $400m (domestically), which it failed to do. In just 10 days, Civil War has pulled in $300 million domestically (and nearly $1B (yes, $1,000,000,000) worldwide). And we're not even talking about their Rotten Tomatoes scores. I think it's safe to say, at least where super heroes are concerned, at least for the moment, that story beats characters.

Deadpool (a movie review post)

I remember when Deadpool made his first appearance way back in New Mutants #98. I have the issue. Multiple times. However, I was unimpressed. He wasn't the big deal in that issue, anyway, not at the time. That was a character named Domino. Yeah, I know; you've never heard of her. I bet Deadpool has completely forgotten her and wouldn't even recognize her if they passed on the street. She'd be all, "Wade! Wade! It's me, Domino!" And he'd stare blankly through his mask and say something like, "Get off me, Spade-face." Back then, though, he was barely a Spider-Man ripoff and was contained completely within all four walls.

I was mostly out of comics by the time Wade had busted down that wall, so I never really got into the character. I knew enough, though, to be really pissed about the Wolverine movie and what they did to Deadpool in it, whether I liked him or not. Also, they had so perfectly cast Ryan Reynolds in the role and, then, basically, told him to bend over. Kind of like how Wade took that one bullet in this movie.

But, as Deadpool does, he, and Reynolds, came out on top in the end. Actually, I'm not sure if Ryan Reynolds isn't actually Deadpool. Or, what is even more likely (because, really, did Reynolds really exist before 1991?), when Deadpool broke that fourth wall in the comics, he emerged as Ryan Reynolds and has been trying to get to do the movie version of himself ever since. All of which is to say (again) that Reynolds is the perfect choice for Deadpool.

The movie is brilliant as soon as the film begins to roll, having the most creative and hilarious opening credits I've ever seen in a movie (something I'm sure you'll see repeated in many of the reviews). And it's not just the credits, it's also the visual that goes along with them. Though it's mostly the credits. I want to see the movie again just so I can see the credits again. Well, and then the rest of the movie, too, but the opening credits are enough to warrant a repeat viewing.

The rest of the cast is nearly as inspired as Reynolds. Okay, well, that's not true, because such perfect casting is extremely rare (and mostly reserved for Marvel comic book characters at this point), and no one else is as vital or as perfect as Reynolds is in this movie. However, Morena Baccarin had great chemistry with Reynolds, and it's hard to imagine inserting someone else into the role of Vanessa. Likewise with T. J. Miller and Gina Carano (even if she doesn't talk much). Oh, and Stefan Kapicic (even though all he does is talk since he's the credited CGI guy).

Okay, sure, the movie is super violent (sometimes in a Looney Tunes kind of way), super vulgar, and full of enough f-bombs to use in the warhead of a nuke, so I understand that some people could be super offended by the movie. But it's also full of humor (not just crude) and a lot of heart, and it's the heart that carries the movie, not the R-rated material. And, yeah, sure, the movie does poke some fun at the super hero movie industrial complex (like the studio not being willing to pay for more than two X-Men to appear in the movie), but it's fairly clever and a lot of fun to watch. As long as you're not being offended. Or squeezing your eyes shut at the violence.

But should you see the movie? Well, that's hard to say. I want to just say, "Yes! What are you kidding me? See the movie!" But, then, there are those people who will be offended, and those people should just stay away. There are also people who don't like super hero movies, but I think some of those people would enjoy this movie for no other reason than how irreverent it is, so that can't really be a gauge. Basically, you should do your research. Watch the trailers. All the trailers. If you find yourself giggling, you should probably give the movie a try.

Oh, and do stay till the end. Don't worry that it's over. Don't go home.

Clone Wars -- "Innocents of Ryloth" (Ep. 1.20)

-- The costs of war can never be truly accounted for.

[Remember, you can sign up to join the Clone Wars Project at any time by clicking this link.]

Continuing the Ryloth story, we pick up with Obi-Wan making his ground assault now that Anakin and Ahsoka have broken the blockade. This episode is back to dealing with a moral dilemma, and it's an interesting one, at that.

The Republic is there at Ryloth to liberate the twi'leks. As such, Obi-Wan lets the clones know during their landing that that means not destroying the twi'leks homes and such. That means they can't just bomb the living heck out of the droids. The droids that have built their bases in the twi'lek villages. Oh, and the droids are also using the twi'leks as living shields, the commander droid having calculated that the Jedi would be much less likely to wage an all-out attack against them if they were behind a hostage shield.

Some of the clones are not happy about the situation and think there is too much concern for the "tail-heads," as they call them. They just want to destroy the droids, and they don't really care if the natives get in the way.

To make things more interesting, two of the clones, one of whom really doesn't like the tail-heads, run into a young twi-lek probably orphan while they are on a scouting mission. Or should I say "pick up a young twi'lek"? Either way, it gives the clones (and through them, the audience) a different perspective on what it's like to have your village ravaged by invaders.

The struggle to save the twi'leks without destroying their villages -- and without bringing harm to them -- is an interesting one. It makes me think of all of those epic super hero battles to save the city... in which they destroy the city. Is what you did worthwhile in those cases?

Also, as an aside, the other day my wife and I were talking about education in the South and why it is so poor compared to education in the rest of the US (there are no Southern states in the top 10 ranked states for education and only four in the top 25). One reason is that the South's education system is still suffering the effects of the Civil War. And I don't mean just inaccurate teaching (like the debacle going on in Texas, right now, with the new text book that was released that refers to slaves as "migrant workers") but the fact that the school system has suffered a lag in performance directly tied to the effects of the war. So, if you glance up at the opening quote from this episode, you can see that it's completely true. The lack of adequate education has been a high cost (that can never be measured) for the South.


"I guess we're the best."

Ninja Mutants: An Extended Review -- Part Two: The Fantasy Paradigm (an IWM post)

Recently, I went to see the new Ninja Turtles movie with my kids (you can read my review of that here), and there are some things in it that go along with the fantasy "discussion" we're having right now. It's interesting enough that I think it deserves its own post, although I'm not including it in the actual exploring fantasy series. First, let's bring up our list of things that go along with fantasy stories:

1. The protagonist (I'm just going to say "hero" from here on out; it's shorter) is not an adult (and usually male).

2. The hero is an orphan (usually both parents are dead, although there is sometime one (usually the mother)).

3. The hero is "special" in some way.

4. There is a prophecy, generally related to the hero.

5. There is an old mentor of some sort, usually a male. (We recognize this character as "the wizard.")

6. There is a quest of some sort involved that only the hero can complete.

7. There is some kind of descent 

8. The hero has companions who help him on his journey.

9. There is some sort of "dark lord" who can only be defeated by the hero.

10. There's an absence of technology.

The thing of interest to me with this new movie is the protagonist...

And that's where I'll leave you. If you want to know the rest, you'll need to hop over to Indie Writers Monthly. If you've ever been a Turtles fan, even if only when you were a kid, you should hop over there right now! Oh, wait, Turtles to don't "hop." Um... Do a flying, ninja kick over there RIGHT NOW!